Humanizing
by XxEJMxX
Summary: It was hard for me to feel human again. There were certain moments in which I could grasp the vulnerability again, a few precious moments. All vampires, on some subconscious level, miss their humanity. But she was not even a reminder, she lit a constant ghost of a heartbeat in my chest, and I wasn't completely sure if I was okay with that.
1. Chapter 1

He let the ground beneath him disappear. His designer tennis shoes pushing against the frozen dirt in an act of the Third Law of Motion. His movements were a blur to any observing bird or deer, the little stars of snow softly latched into his hair. He wasn't thirsty. He wasn't angry. He wasn't sad. He just wanted to run. Sometimes he wanted to run just because he could. He liked to pretend he could feel his lungs bursting from the exertion. He liked to pretend there was a ghost pain, a stitch in his side or maybe his ankles would be swollen. This was as close as he got to being human. He was a caged animal pretending to be something that he wasn't.

Running away from his family, which loved him, and their expectations was the closest thing to humanity and freedom he could feel. He didn't feel closer to humanity while he sat in a school desk, perpetually a teenager. He didn't feel closer to humanity when he routinely made love to a cold, perfect woman. He didn't feel closer to humanity when he sunk his teeth into the hide of a bear instead of the neck of a man. He achieved his moments of humanity different from his adopted siblings, some of which didn't yearn for humanity any more.

He finally stopped running, almost a second away from getting torn apart. His toes were almost in line with the Quileute boundary line. There were already wolves gathered to shove their teeth against his marble skin if he accidentally nudged against their land. All of them he recognized, snarling and smelling like wet fur and pheromones. The trees surrounding him smelled of piss, perhaps where the bedraggled dogs had lifted their legs in a measly attempt to mark their territory.

He smirked, and silently walked to a tree barely on his side of the boundary line, unzipping his pants and whipping his cock out. He forced a few drops of diluted blood, which had taken the place of most of his bodily fluids, onto the tree. He didn't know how it worked, for his father was the doctor, but those few drops spread his scent thoroughly. He heard the big russet wolf, Jacob Black, who had apparently finally claimed his birthright, growl deeply before he turned around. He smirked once more, saluted and ran from them. Listening to some barks and growls as one of the others, most likely the big, gray, aggressive wolf, tried to follow him. He looked over his shoulder and paused for a second. A dark grey wolf, with splotches of black and white falling haphazardly on its coat, fought against it's Alpha's hold as Jacob tried to hold the slighter down. He had never seen this one before. He cocked his head, ocher eyes observing the scene silently, noting how the other wolves had their heads bowed in respect as the Alpha growled with hackles raised. The smaller wolf fought like hell against the large mountain of muscle beneath the russet wolf's hide.

Emmett felt, for a moment, bound to protect this smaller wolf from his or her attacker as Rosalie had protected him. In a split decision he shouted in a booming voice,

"What the hell are you doing?" The Alpha in question stopped his struggle for a moment, going rigid, and giving the smaller wolf a chance to wriggle free and go bolting across the boundary line. Emmett tensed as the smaller wolf ran right for him, snarling and shifting into a fighting position. He flipped the running wolf over, pinning it on it's back, and was thoroughly surprised when the wolf shifted into a slight female. He had to readjust his weight, as to not fall on her. She blushed and again he asked,

"What the hell are you doing?" except this time, his voice quieter, awe struck. The girl in question just looked up to him, gazing into his eyes without opening her mouth. She looked different from the other Quileute's; lighter skinned, with open green eyes, and dark little freckles on her lightly tanned skin. She had a little, almost upturned, nose in comparison to the wide Native's noses. He jumped off of her in a fluid motion and offered her a hand. He politely turned his gaze to the other side of the line where Jacob stood, humanized and dressed in a pair of low-slung shorts while glaring at him. She grasped his hand firmly, and his gaze shot to her, remembering how long it had been since something so warm was in his grasp. She gazed up at him again, her eyes now guarded and unreadable.

He let go of her hand and Jacob cleared his throat.

"Will you answer my damn question?" He fired at the Alpha aggressively, who rolled his eyes and opened his mouth.

"You shouldn't have been so close to our territory." he gritted out, almost angry.

"That doesn't answer my question mutt. Who is this? Why did she attempt to attack me? What is going on?" the girl tugged on my hand and started rapid fire signing with her fingers, but it had been too long since I had taken a crash course in ASL.

"Come over here, now" Jacob directed at the girl, who looked at him defiantly for a moment before dropping her head in submission and slinking to where Jacob was standing, trying in an almost unnoticeable way to cover herself.

"Her name is Adelaide. She was brought to us by a few cousins of ours further East. She was the only shifter in her area and needed a pack. She needed to learn how to respect authority," he stressed the last two words, turning to look at the girl who had shifted back into wolf form. The wolf whined, and rolled onto her belly at Jacob's feet, offering her submission.

"She's mute, as you could tell...and your scent...she...She's so new that..." another wolf phased, the other female who's name was Lina, Emmett thought, or Lisa or something like that.

"She imprinted on him, get your head out of your ass," the girl growled, looking Emmett up and down in a disgusted manner. Emmett was almost offended, he thought he was a pretty nice specimen of ice hard marble...

"Leah, hold your tongue." Jacob ground out, and then turned back to Emmett. Adjusting his demeanor slightly.

"Well you heard her...she imprinted on you. Which is almost unheard of…our kind doesn't get along with leeches. How do you wish to go about this?" Jacob said in a guarded manner, crossing his arms in a defensive way.

Emmett paused to think. He had heard much of imprinting from his brother's pain in the ass girlfriend Isabella. He was pretty sure that wolves imprinted to produce proper offspring. He was also sure that if the imprint went ignored, the imprintee would probably waste away and die a painful death. He had never considered the fact that the Ice Queen wasn't his mate. Of course they fought, they bickered, he hated her _sometimes_, but he loved her right? Rosalie was his mate, right?

He looked back at the wolf on the ground at her Alpha's feet.

"I will need to discuss some issues with Carlisle. But from what I know, you can't deny that bond of nature. Me and my patriarch, possibly others will be back at this area later tonight. Midnight. Be here, please." He said politely, taking one last glance at the grey wolf, smaller than the rest of the pack, before turning in the blink of an eye and disappearing.

His mind was whirring. There was no way this was real. Bunch of bullshit mutts.


	2. Chapter 2

Emmett forewent the family room at first, knowing Edward would have read his thoughts and informed Carlisle before he even stepped foot in the house. Instead he went to his room for a few moments, he wanted to wash off the stink of dog in a hot shower. He jumped onto the balcony that lead to his and Rose's room, and was shocked at what was occurring on his bed. He stood, his mouth gaping as he listened to the rest of the house. Apparently no one but these two were home.

And boy did they take the opportunity. He should probably feel either disgusted or turned on, at seeing Rosalie making out with another girl. But Bella was unattractive, bland, and had less personality than a dishrag. He slid the balcony door open and watched Rose pull back quickly, shocked. She opened her mouth, presumably to explain before he cut her off,

"I don't fucking care Rosalie Lillian Hale. I don't want to know. Just think about what you want to do in _our _marriage and we will discuss arrangements later," Bella stammered apologies and stood to leave the room, and Emmett just rolled his eyes.

"Where is Carlisle?"

"Hunting trip." Rose bit out, taking Bella's hand firmly and dragging her back onto _their _bed. He wasn't a bad man or a bad husband. Their love life wasn't terribly awful or boring. He had more personality than that blood bag. Of all of the people Rosalie could turn to. He thought they hated each other.

He just shook his head and jumped from the balcony, setting off on another run, following the scent of the family. He tried to keep the warm bloody tears from falling down his cheeks but he was unsuccessful. He finally found Edward who had read it all in his mind and was steaming mad. He didn't need to be a mind reader to know that both Isabella and Rosalie had it coming. Edward then focused on the more important matter out of his mind. The one that was currently consuming his mind. Vampire's minds were completely empty, they didn't have to breathe or think about balancing or walking; their brain wasn't preoccupied with the trivial matters of bodily functions. There was a lot of empty space, which lead to a lot of multitasking. Emmett had several issues, memories, and emotions that were currently fighting for precedence in his brain. But mostly he was angry, bitter, and mostly confused as hell.

"So this girl imprinted on you?" Edward snapped him out of it,

"Yes. But did you-"

"Yes I saw the other part. I will deal with her when I get home." Edward's expression was thunderous. He had given Bella an engagement ring earlier in the month, and was attempting to ignore her shortcomings. He desperately wanted to love her and not be alone for the rest of eternity.

Suddenly Alice came skipping up to him, the short pixie grabbing his waist in a hug.

"I was worried when I couldn't see you. But now I can't see your future. You're fogged. Are you in danger?" She looked so small and scared, and Jasper wasn't far behind her, sending off waves of stifling calm that Emmett didn't want. Jasper sent Emmett a look, and laid off on the calming atmosphere.

"Not really Allie. I'd be more worried about my...wife if I were you" Alice's eyes widened as she looked at me.

"I saw...I thought it was...I didn't..."

"It's completely fine Alice. I don't really need her. That's why I'm presuming I disappeared…you can't see the wolves right?" She nodded her head no, and then a grin slowly began to spread across her face.

"Did you find someone?" she squealed,

"Not exactly..." I trailed off as my mother and father strolled into the conversation.

"We should probably move this back to the house. We have quite a bit to work through don't we children?" Carlisle, always the peacekeeper, said.

We all ran back to our home, none of us saying a word or taunting for a race.

Rosalie and Bella had obviously worked some sort of accord out, for they were sitting relatively close together on the sofa, waiting for our return. Rosalie had a hand on Bella's thigh and Edward's mother's ring, the antique ring with about a carat worth of diamonds, was sitting in an open ring box on the coffee table. Edward stopped, his face went slack for about a second before he forced a dangerous looking smile.

We all sat down in an irregular circle, Emmett as far away from Rosalie as he could get.

"I'm assuming you want a divorce?" Emmett spat out, his voice trembling with resentment as he tried to keep it neutral. Rosalie nodded and held his gaze, pigheaded bitch. Bella was looking at the ground as Edward glared at her. He slowly stood from his position near Emmett and walked almost slower than an aging human to pick up the ring box, and snap it shut. The sound resounded throughout the living room, almost like a muted gunshot, and Isabella jumped.

"You take everything that is yours and your share of our money, load everything into your car, take her and leave. I don't care if you stay in Forks, or with Charlie, or move wherever the fuck it is her mother lives. But I do not wish to see you again if at all possible." Emmett ground out in a resounding voice, still not breaking eye contact with her. The sorrow that originally bloomed through his cold, broad chest had morphed into a burning anger. Rosalie turned her cupid's bow lips in a snarl and looked as if she was about to argue before Carlisle stood up,

"I understand you feel you've been a part of this family longer Rosalie. I understand you have lived in this home just as long as the rest of us, but given the circumstances I believe Emmett is being very generous. Vampiric marriages are very traditional, as you are aware, and he could have easily tossed you out without anything or killed you for your offenses." Rosalie just stared at her father in open-mouthed shock, curling her finely manicured fingers into fists.

"How long?" Edward choked out into the tense silence which followed Carlisle's speech.

"About a month..." Isabella whispered, "I never meant to hurt you Edward, I love you, I'm so sorry" she began to cry pathetically while Rose stroked her hair and shushed her. Edward just glared at the entire ordeal, and stood to pace around the room. Esme looked so worried, she hated to see her family like this. She hated her children to fight, and while she could have easily blamed Bella for the entire thing, she didn't. She loved her like she was one of her own, undead, children.

"I feel it would be best for you both to live with the Denali clan for a while. I'm sure that sometime, after Isabella has been turned," which hinted at years, if not longer, "you two can return here. But you two must understand, even if we all love you, you both have damaged Emmett and Edward severely. Which, as a mother, I cannot condone. However, I want you all to be safe and happy, so this is the best option. Please try to understand Rosalie" Esme pleaded in her soft, compassionate voice. Emmett could have argued, he really wasn't feeling the love right now; at this thought Edward smirked darkly in his direction.

Rosalie softened a bit, but still looked a bit sad and regretful before running swiftly up the stairs. Alice cleared her throat awkwardly shooting Emmett a pointed glance.

"Did you want to discuss something Emmett?" Carlisle asked, not missing the gesture. Emmett glanced carefully at Bella, before deciding it didn't matter if he hurt Rose's feelings or not. She had certainly done a number on his.

"Well earlier today on my run, I had a run in with the Quileute pack. Apparently they have a new member from somewhere out West. She imprinted on me." he said rather unceremoniously. Jasper coughed, Alice made a little happy hum, Edward shot a thoughtful sideways glance to Emmett, Esme looked a bit shocked, and Carlisle puzzled. Isabella displayed her open shock by choking on her breath a bit.

"Why would this happen? The Quileute tribe's shifters imprint to mate, and you are obviously unable to produce young. Our kind is also an enemy faction to their kind. Are there any records of this occurring before? Do you think it's a genuine occurrence? How do you feel about the young woman? How are you going to go about this?" Carlisle fired off question after question, and the rest of the family looked to him expectantly. Emmett took a big breath in and released it harshly.

"I have no idea. That's why I told the dogs that we would meet them back at the boundary line later tonight to discuss everything. Maybe they have records of it, I didn't think to ask. I really don't think it has processed with me yet. I still just kind of think it's a hoax. She isn't too bad on the eyes but I wasn't really concerned with serious future and romantic thoughts at the time. I don't even know exactly how she feels and I don't know how the pack of puppies feel about it either. They seemed angry or tense as if they didn't know what to think either." Emmett took another breath, wishing he could feel his dead lungs burn, wishing he could hear his pulse in his ears. But everything was silent in the room, except for Isabella's sniffly inhales and exhales. Rosalie came back down the stairs with several bags of luggage, glaring at him intently.

"I see no reason for you to be upset Emmett. You have a bitch to entertain you" Rosalie spat at him, seeming almost jealous or angry.

"Don't you fucking even. _You _messed around with _her _long before today. I don't even know the girl yet, but if I hear you say one more thing about her I swear to god I will rip your perfect goldilocks out just for shits and giggles," the family surrounding them tensed at Emmett's threat, and Jasper sent out mild crests of calm to keep a fight from happening in the living room. Rosalie growled but continued to stand her ground before flouncing to the garage with a stack of suitcases piled on her arms.


End file.
